Management

Investors and analysts tend to rate retail industry CEOs with a completely different set of criteria than retail employees would use to rate their boss's boss's boss's boss. So if you asked the employees of the largest U.S. retail industry chains if they approved of their CEO, what would they say?

An Apple store employee has started a drive to unionize retail workers of the company. Cory Moll, a part-time employee at an Apple store in San Francisco, is working to form a union to fight for better wages and benefits and to address what he says are unfair practices.

Kmart is laying off 700 employees in its appliance departments. The chain is changing the way it sells appliances, allowing customers to check out appliances at any register rather than going to a dedicated register. Instead of having dedicated appliance-only associates, all Kmart staffers are being trained to answer questions about appliances.

Workers at a Target store in suburban New York City voted against joining a union, bringing another defeat to organized labor in its attempts to penetrate the world of big retail. The vote was 137 to 85, as Target workers in Valley Stream, N.Y., declined to be represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

HSN announced that Arthur Lewis has been appointed senior vice president of merchandising, digital commerce, effective June 27. Lewis will report directly to Jill Braff, executive vice president of digital commerce for HSN. Lewis will oversee HSN's cross-channel merchandising strategy on hsn.com, mobile and tablet platforms. He will also leverage his extensive digital background to grow all brands and categories of business, including online product exclusives and category expansions, the company reported.

Growth in retail crime and fraud is leaving retailers racing to stop the individuals responsible for stealing billions of dollars each year. Preliminary results of the latest National Retail Security Survey, released at the National Retail Federation’s Loss Prevention Conference and EXPO, show that retail shrinkage increased to 1.58 percent of retail sales in 2010, up from 1.44 percent in 2009.

Charlie Cole, vice president of online marketing at Lucky Brand Jeans, talks to Kelly Hushin, editor of the eTail Blog, about how and why it's important to understand your data analytics suite and target customers through strategic use of that data. 

Macy's workers will remain on the job after the retail giant reached a tentative deal with its union Thursday morning after a marathon bargaining session. "Following an all-night negotiating session, Macy's is pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with Local 1-S of the RWDSU on a new five-year agreement," Macy's spokeswoman Elina Kazan said in a statement.

Borders, the bankrupt bookstore chain, has reached agreements with landlords to extend leases on 11 stores it had listed for possible closure, and it said it's in talks with creditors that could delay any going-out-of-business sales.

Kenneth Cole Productions announced that Paul Blum has been appointed CEO, effective June 20. Kenneth Cole will continue as chairman and chief creative officer, maintaining his creative role over design and advertising. Hired in March as vice chairman, Blum brings over 25 years of experience in footwear, accessories, apparel, wholesaling and retailing to the position. He most recently held the position of CEO at luxury jewelry company David Yurman.